Tactile Posting Guidelines

[Copper Sulphate]

Greetings ladies and gentlemen.

In a past thread in Off Topic containing forum suggestions, it was mentioned that it might be difficult to judge where to put a given post, choosing between the boards available.

The admin team has noticed this problem as well, of course. As it happens then the moderators agree on the particular boundary for the Tactile board. Thus I'd like to share it in the hope there will be less confusion in the future.

Tactile is for the discussion of anything the forum members themselves are making, consider making, wonder how they would make and has made of Steampunk projects in the past, present and future, including obvious extensions like relevant tools, howto's and techniques.

A steampunk project is - to my mind - very broadly defined. IE. it would be on topic to discuss the making of, say, a Steampunk theme for the Firefox web browser, assuming it was some of our members, who were working on it.

A post pointing out a nice Steampunk Firefox theme made by someone else should go into Metaphysical or possibly Aural-Ocular, depending on the particulars.

A post containing a link to an eBay auction or a similar trading site should probably go into Trading, since those links are very temporary in nature, thus having no lasting value. If people want to discuss the making of an object for sale on eBay, they should put sufficient detail into their post here in Tactile to ensure future relevance when the eBay auction is deleted.

Examples:

"How would one go about making *this* Steampunk artifact?"
is on topic, since part of a feasibility study/planning phase.

"Have a look at *this* neat Steampunk artifact!" (same link)
is off topic, since it is just a link to something external, though Steampunk. These types of posts should go into Metaphysical, even if the artifact linked may be of a technical nature (beautiful contemporary Steampunk steam engine etc.)

It is a fine line, but we have to put it somewhere. Sometimes I have let threads with external links linger for a bit instead of immediately moving them. The hope was that the threads develop into a discussion on the fabrication or technical functionality of the objects/artifacts, but unfortunately this doesn't always end up being the case.

C.S.

[S.Sprocket]

"Brass Goggles has always and shall continue to portray the "lighter side of steampunk"  as coined by our retired founder Tinkergirl.  To that end we have a few general rules which apply to all sections of the forum:

1.  Please keep all posts within a Safe For Work (SFW) Policy. This means is that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Posts may contain, some strong language and innuendo, humor, mature themes, historical and fantasy firearms of the "Victorian Era", and some historical-political themes within the context of our 19th century speculative fiction genre.  If your post contains partial (upper body) nudity or other visual elements which may not be approved for viewing within an office setting the post must be flagged Not Safe For Work (NSFW). This nudity clause is written in specifically for historical photographs and Steampunk art. 

2.  You are expected to maintain decorum and behavior appropriate for adult cultural discussion.  This means that things which have been dubbed by the internet community as "trolling" are not allowed.  Other behavior such as Ad Hominem arguments (attacking someone's argument based on the character or physical trait of the subject) and assuming one or many persona with the intention to deceive (what we've dubbed a 'sock puppet') are expressly prohibited.  Bad or disruptive behavior not listed here may also be identified by the Brass Goggles staff and dealt with accordingly. 

Enforcement:
These rules are interpreted by our moderation staff and rule-breakers will be dealt with as the moderator sees fit.  Punishments like a private reprimand, temporary ban, or a full ban are handed out based on the scope of the violation and at the discretion of the moderator.

Purposefully seeking gray area between rules and their wording and/or experimenting by seeing how far you can stretch a rule are seen as rule violations in themselves and may be acted upon as a rule violation.  If you are ever in doubt about your particular post, please send it in a PM to the moderator for the section you are using for a ruling before you make it public!

Tactile Specific Guidelines:
This board is for the discussion of Steampunk themed hands-on projects and questions.  From how to get the patina on your piping looking right, to how to correctly align the axels on your new steam-powered rollerskates, to the most appropriate fabrics for the alternate year 1882 - if it's hands on and likely to require the rolling up of sleeves, it may be discussed here.